You've already learned Telling time in French - simple. In this lesson we'll see how to use the 24-hour clock and to differentiate between AM and PM in French.
In France you will often hear the twenty-four hour clock used, as such:
The fact is that, when there's no risk of confusion between AM and PM, French people use both 12-hour and 24-hour clocks :
- You know you're probably not meeting at 5AM! -
However, when there is risk of confusion between AM and PM, you will either use the 24-hour clock, OR add precisions like du matin (in the morning), de l'après-midi (in the afternoon) and even du soir (in the evening, starting around 6PM), after the 12-hour clock time.
ATTENTION:
With the "above 12 o'clock" times (13h, 14h, ...), you don't use et quart, et demie, moins le quart but instead you use quinze, trente, quarante-cinq, probably for pronunciation (and elegance) reasons.
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